Ghost Story
by SummerGirl0009
Summary: Kari's life has been a downhill slope ever since the tragic accident that tore her apart. Just what, and who, will it take to turn her around?
1. Chapter 1

**Ghost Story**

Chapter 1- Siren Bells

Kari remembered hearing the sirens. At the time, she hadn't thought much of them. There was nothing special about them. Their apartment building was located off of a major road in a busy city so she was well used to hearing them flash by on the street twenty stories below. Sometimes she heard them daily. You had to ignore them, Kari always thought. It would be too much to bear if you spent time wondering what was happening or who was hurt. Still, Kari distinctly remembered having that "what if" feeling. She ignored it, of course. There was no way the sirens could be headed for someone she knew. Someone she loved…

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The alarm clock blared. Kari slammed the off button as she woke up slowly from her dream. In the real world now, she couldn't remember a single thing her dream had been about but she lay in bed for several long minutes trying desperately to find it again. It had left her with a warm, fuzzy, pleasant feeling in her gut, and though she had no clue why, she didn't want to let it go.

Sighing, she gave her ceiling one last long look before dragging herself out of bed. She squinted as she flipped the lights on in her bedroom and then in the hallway to her kitchen.

The electronic light on her coffee maker blinked 6:04 as she turned it on and headed to her bathroom to begin getting ready for work.

Her morning routine was exactly the same everyday. Shower, dress, brush her teeth, brush her hair, smear some makeup on her face to cover the circles under her eyes and the hollowness of her pale cheeks. Kari never strayed from her routines. They made her feel comfortable, they made her feel safe.

She poured the remaining coffee into a travel mug and set off to work, like she did every morning. Her office building was exactly seven blocks from her apartment. Sometimes she counted the steps, but today she let herself be distracted by the bright blue of the sky. It had rained the past three days so the sunshine felt wonderful on her face. It made her think of her dream and again she was plagued to remember just what it had been about.

Kari struggled a lot to remember things.

There had been an accident, the doctors told her when she woke up in that empty hospital room almost a year ago. She had hit her head and damaged her memory. It could come back one day, the doctors had told her, but she didn't count on it.

It had been a year and Kari still barely knew who she was. She only knew that her name was, in fact, Kari because it was engraved on the silver heart-shaped bracelet she had been wearing when she woke up in the hospital. Everything else was blank.

Oh, she could read and write and solve math problems - that part of her brain was fine. Where her family was, who had given her the bracelet, and even things like what her favorite food was were lost to her.

Sometimes she'd fantasize that her loved ones were out there looking for her, but she'd long since given up hope of being found. The doctors couldn't tell her any more than she already knew. No one had seen Kari arrive at the hospital. A nurse had told her that it was as if she had somehow just appeared on a gurney right inside the doors of the emergency room entrance.

Kari reached the front door of the office building at exactly 7:52. She was in the elevator by 7:53 and stepped off onto the twenty-third floor by 7:55. She always made sure she was at her desk well before 8:00. She worked as a personal secretary for an important businessman.

Although it wasn't her dream job, if she even knew what that was, Kari was extremely grateful for her work. Her boss, Don, had taken a risk hiring a girl with no references or credentials and she would never forget it.

Just as she was thinking about him, he walked past her desk on his way into his office. He smiled at her like he did every day and they traded good mornings.

As soon as his door closed behind him, Kari's only friend Joanie stepped out from behind her cubicle and sighed.

"You know what my favorite part of this job is?"

She took a seat on the corner of Kari's desk but Kari barely looked up to ask her what.

"Staring at that cute butt."

Kari looked up then, confused, until she saw her friend gazing back toward Don's closed door. Choosing not to think about her boss's behind, Kari simply shook her head at Joanie.

Taking the hint, Joanie headed back to her cubicle, calling over her shoulder. "How many hours 'til lunch?"

"Four," Kari called back to her. Although she loved Joanie, there were many areas where they disagreed. Their job, for one. It seemed no matter the day or hour, Joanie was always counting the seconds until she could leave. Kari, on the other hand, enjoyed working. It gave her a sense of purpose and unity with her coworkers. She wouldn't go so far as to say family, but they were a team, and Kari took that seriously.

Second, was Joanie's infatuation with every man she met. Kari hadn't dated since the accident, nor did she entirely wish to. It wasn't a matter of self-confidence, she knew without a doubt that she was beautiful. Having lost familiarity with her own reflection, she was able to look at herself without bias to know that she was pretty. To Kari, her decision to avoid dating and relationships had more to do with a feeling, not unlike the one from her dream, that maybe she'd already found her true love. She supposed one day she'd have to let go of that as well, but like her dream feelings, she'd struggle to hold onto that as long as she could.

By the time lunch did roll around, Kari was almost dreading the gossip hour with Joanie. The conversation turned almost immediately, as it did every day, to Joanie's most recent conquest.

"Oh my gosh, Kar, he's so hot."

"Where did you meet him?" Kari asked while picking at her lunch.

"At the gym. He has an amazing body. And he plays guitar, how sexy is that?"

Kari just smiled at her friend, awkwardly unsure of how to contribute to the conversation.

Then Joanie's voice took on a familiarly mischievous note. "You know, Kari," she said slyly, "his roommate's really cute too. And single. I was thinking we could double. Are you free this Friday?"

"I don't think so, Joanie."

"What do you mean?" Joanie pouted. "You never have plans."

"I just…don't think I'm up to it."

"Kari, please, just give him a chance. I met him last night and he seemed super nice. You need to get out there Kari, you know, move on with your life."

What life? Kari thought in her head. She didn't say it out loud though because she knew it would upset Joanie. Instead she told Joanie that she understood. "I just need to move forward at my own pace."

Joanie only rolled her eyes. "It that case, I guess we can double forty years from now. I'm sure we'll both still be single then, although if we're in wheel chairs I don't know how easy it'll be to get from our nursing homes to a movie theater."

This brought a smile to Kari's face, which pleased Joanie enough to stop pressing the issue. Even when their friendship frustrated Kari from to their lack of things in common, deep down Kari knew Joanie was only trying to make her happy, and Kari knew she was lucky to have a friend like her.

Even though Kari had brushed aside Joanie's remarks about dating and moving on, she contemplated her friend's advice hours later, while she was riding a stationary bicycle at the gym. Looking around, she wondered how girls like Joanie could pick up guys in places like this. With sweat rolling down her face and her hair sticking to the back of her neck, she felt exhausted and the very opposite of sexy.

Glancing around at the male proportion of the gym's clients Kari noticed a few macho boys about her age in the corner lifting weights. They switched to the heavier sizes as soon as they saw her looking, as if trying to compete or show off. Disgusted, Kari focused back on her cycling.

To her, the gym was a place where she didn't have to think, where she could get lost in the exertion and forget about everything else in her life. More importantly, she was there because she wanted to be there not because she felt like she had to improve herself for other people.

Besides the trio in the corner, the only other man there was an after-worker like herself, and he was probably about twice her age. Thankfully he didn't seem to notice her looking in his direction.

After the gym she picked up some carryout and headed home like she did every night. Her evening routine was similar to her morning one. After kicking off her shoes and transferring her dinner from the takeout box to a plate she ate on the sofa while watching the evening news. The most important part of her routine, however, was checking her answering machine.

"No new messages," it recited to her like it did every night.

Sighing, she washed her dirty dishes, changed into her pajamas, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and made sure she was tucked into bed by exactly 10:00.

At 10:01 she started to cry like she did every night. It wasn't her routines, it wasn't her job, it wasn't Joanie that upset her. She cried because every day made her want to scream at the top of her lungs. This wasn't the job she was supposed to be working at, Joanie wasn't the friend she was supposed to be confiding in, this wasn't the bed she was supposed to be sleeping in. How could she ever move on with her life when none of it was right? And how was she supposed to fix it?


	2. Chapter 2

**Ghost Story**

Chapter 2

The next morning Kari's alarm went off at exactly 6:00 and she woke eager to meet the day. Gone were her worries from the night before and in their place were her thankfulness to have a good job, thankfulness to have a good friend, and most of all, thankfulness to be alive.

Although it started out like a typical morning to a typical day, things at the office took a very interesting turn.

Besides Don's typical greeting, "Good morning, Kari," he threw in an extra compliment, making Kari's face flush scarlet by telling her how beautiful she looked today.

She had barely stammered a thank you when he winked and kept walking to his office. Joanie, who had overheard the exchange didn't mind sharing her jealousy with Kari as she continued to spend the morning badgering her about going on a double date.

It wasn't until after lunchtime when Don poked his head out of his door to call Kari inside.

Hurriedly, Kari stepped away from the file she'd been entering into the computer and made her way into his office, shutting the door softly behind her.

She'd been in his office many times before for various meetings and occasionally just to organize things for him. Despite her familiarity with his dark mahogany bookshelves, framed pictures of his parents, and cozy leather chairs, she felt a twinge of nervousness as she took a seat in front of his desk.

"How's everything going, Kari?" he asked.

"Fine," she answered, though she knew that was not what he meant. The next question people always asked her was if she had remembered anything yet. "No changes," she said as he opened his mouth for the next question.

He nodded and Kari could see on his face how he wondered whether this was good or bad.

"I'm starting to think maybe there was nothing worth remembering," she said sadly.

He smiled faintly and Kari was surprised to see him look almost nervous.

"Okay," he said, "I know this is probably hugely inappropriate but I was just wondering if you had any plans for Saturday night?"

Kari's mouth fell open a bit in shock.

"I mean," he continued, "you've been working here for a year now. I think that deserves a celebration. I was thinking maybe we could go to dinner."

Kari hesitated. "Do you mean as an office dinner or a…private dinner?" she asked, although she didn't need to – from the way he was looking at her she could tell which option he had in mind.

His eyes were very blue, she noticed. It was an unusual contrast with his dark hair, but definitely not unpleasant. It was that deep blue color though that sparked something familiar in Kari. But just like that, the déjà vu feeling was gone, just like her dreams from the night before.

"I was hoping for just the two of us."

Kari froze. Every instinct was telling her to run out of his office. She was telling her body to do just that when an even louder voice chimed in: Joanie telling her over lunch about how it was time for her to move on. It was time, Kari agreed. She was twenty-four years old, or at least she thought she was. She could have dinner with whomever she wanted.

"Okay," Kari said. "Pick me up at eight?"

When he nodded, unable to hide his smile, Kari hurried out of his office before she gave the situation any more thought and changed her mind. Unfortunately, in comparison to how the rest of the day went, her time at the office was relatively normal.

At 4:30 she was walking down the sidewalk to the gym contemplating what her life had been like before the accident. Maybe she'd never really had a good life and this was her chance to start over. Maybe things were exactly the same and there was another apartment out there that looked exactly as hers did now, except dusty after being empty for a year. Or maybe…

There was a third option. It always hovered over her especially when she didn't really want to think about it. She stopped at an intersection watching the heavy rush hour traffic on the street in front of her instead of thinking about the family that might be missing her or a husband that might be searching for her. It was true she hadn't been wearing a ring at the hospital, but that didn't always mean anything. Maybe it was her husband who had given her the bracelet.

In front of her the crosswalk signaled she could walk. She looked down at the curb as she stepped onto the street and felt something warm and fuzzy pull in her gut. Walking toward her from the opposite direction was the man who had caused it.

Kari stopped in her tracks as he approached.

She knew him.

She had to know him.

Everything about him was familiar to her from the width of his shoulders to his long lanky body and his tousled golden-blond hair. He looked up at her in passing, sensing her wide-eyed stare. He smiled slightly at her, piercing her with his bright blue eyes. Their shoulders almost brushed as he passed and then he was gone, lost in the crowded sidewalk behind her.

Kari shivered. It was a nice, warm, spring day but there were goose bumps on her arms. Shaking off the nerves, she pulled herself together and stepped back out into the street.

Everything after that was a blur. A horn honked, a woman behind her screamed, and a speeding pick-up truck flew right in front of Kari, through the red light and into on-coming traffic. Breaks squealed and glass smashed but Kari could only hear her heart pounding in her chest.

One step further and she would've been killed instantly. Seeing that man, no, that stranger, she corrected herself, had saved her life.

A woman, probably the same one who had screamed, grabbed her shoulder and kept asking Kari if she was alright. Kari couldn't answer though because she was spinning wildly in circles trying to spot a glimpse of that messy blond hair through the now growing crowd of onlookers.

He was gone. She couldn't spot him anywhere and soon gave up trying as the woman was still holding onto her shoulder and pulling her back toward the scene.

A blast of sirens announced the arrival of the ambulances and squad cars and before she knew it Kari was in the hands of the paramedics.

"I'm fine," Kari told them as they scanned her for injury and checked her vital signs.

"Alright," said the paramedic, shining a light into her pupils, "but I have to take you to the hospital anyway to be examined."

"I don't need to go to the hosp-" she tried to say but the woman caught up to her again.

"Ma'am did you lose somebody back there? You looked like you were trying to find someone…" The woman was middle-aged with long silver hair and kind eyes.

"Yes!" Kari told her. She began describing the man she had seen but stopped when the woman asked for his name.

Thankfully, or maybe not thankfully, a policeman interrupted their conversation to ask if they had witnessed the accident.

"Yes," the woman answered for them, "and she's lost her friend in all the mayhem."

"I'm going to need your friend's description," replied the policeman, "and also for you two to make an official statement of what you saw happen."

The paramedic, who had still been attempting to examine Kari finally decided that that was enough. "This woman needs medical attention," he cried. "If you want a statement you'll have to follow us to the hospital."

Kari could see his frustration and decided not to argue as he helped her into the back of an ambulance. The hospital environment was a very familiar one to Kari after all the time she'd spent there a year before.

"Name, please?" a red-haired nurse asked after adjusting Kari onto a hospital bed.

"Kari Miko." Kari knew Miko was probably not her real last name, as she had made it up months prior. She'd needed a last name to open a bank account and she needed the bank account for her wages. "My record might be under 'Jane Doe' though," she told the nurse. "I was Dr. Matsuhiro's patient last year."

The nurse nodded and left Kari's bay.

Several long minutes later Dr. Matsuhiro himself appeared to check on Kari. Kari was glad to see him. He was a nice old man with balding gray hair and glasses that always slid down his nose.

"Ah, Kari!" he exclaimed. "How are you?"

"She was in an accident," the red-headed nurse informed him.

"Not in an accident," she corrected, "witness to an accident. The truck didn't hit me. I'm fine."

"All the same," Dr. Matsuhiro said, looking concerned, "you were due for another check up anyway, so I'm sure you won't mind if I take a look?"

Kari nodded, well used to the doctor's poking and proddings.

"So, no more changes?" he asked after listening to her heart and lungs.

"No…" Kari hesitated, "Well, I thought I may have recognized someone today right before the truck…" She looked up at the corner of the room where two men in police uniforms were questioning a few other people from the scene. One of them happened to look up and Kari recognized the officer who had confronted her earlier. He made his way over to Kari's hospital bed before the doctor could ask any more questions.

"Excuse me, ma'am," the officer said, "but we've questioned several people from the accident and no one seems to remember seeing anyone matching the description of your friend."

Dr. Matsuhiro frowned.

Kari nodded, biting her bottom lip to keep it from trembling.

The doctor patted her knee. "Everything seems to be fine. You let me know if you remember anything else," he told her before heading back to his other patients, leaving Kari to give her statement to the police.

The emergency room was so unorganized with people streaming in from the accident that it was over an hour before she was discharged.

On her way home she decided to treat herself and pick up take out Chinese food on her way back, skipping her daily work out. She even uncorked a bottle of wine to have with her dinner.

It was already dark outside when Kari finished eating. Leaving her dirty dishes in the sink (something she never ever did) she took the bottle with her to the living room to help her unwind before bed. And to get the image of the stranger's face out of her head.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ghost Story**

Chapter 3

The next day was Friday. When her alarm clock rang at exactly 6:00, Kari was still shaken over the day before. For the first time ever, Kari called in sick to work. She felt she deserved a sick day; after all, she had been only a second away from death by speeding truck.

She spent the morning in bed, mostly nursing her hangover and deciding that finishing the bottle of wine had been a very poor decision. It had definitely helped to take her mind off the constant replay of the accident in her head though. Strangely, it really wasn't the truck that was bothering her – it was the blond man. It was possible that she might've recognized him from the hospital, or as one of Don's clients, or even from her weekend excursions in the park across the street. Maybe he lived in her building, she thought, or frequented her gym. There were a thousand different places she could've seen him before yesterday, yet it still bothered her.

At 1:00 her phone rang. Answering it, she was not surprised to hear Don's voice on the other end.

"Hi, Kari, I just wanted to call and see if you're feeling any better."

"Oh, yes," she told him, desperate to hang up the phone. "I slept in this morning and am now feeling much better." She thought it best not to mention the wine headache.

"Great! Are we still on for tomorrow night, then?"

Kari couldn't explain why she wanted to say no. "Yep, see you at eight."

"Okay, get some more rest and drink lots of water. See you tomorrow!"

Kari felt much relief when he hung up. Deciding that it was time, she forced herself to get out of bed. Slowly, she completed her morning rituals despite the later hour. Instead of dressing for work, however, she threw on a comfy pair of blue jean shorts, a pink tank top, and a pair of rubber flip-flop sandals. She finished the look with her silver bracelet that she donned every morning, her only connection to her past life.

She definitely needed some fresh air. It looked like a beautiful, warm summer day outside her bedroom window so she thought she'd take an afternoon walk through the park.

It, of course, turned out much differently than she planned.

Kari had barely taken a step outside the front door onto the sidewalk when she saw him. He was standing on the other side of the road facing into the park with his back to Kari and the street. Once again she was flooded with an overwhelming sensation of familiarity.

Kari paused where she was standing, just staring at him. Her suspicions that she knew him were confirmed as she gazed at his back. Kari knew him, she knew him better than she knew Joanie or Don. She couldn't explain it. She knew that he was just the right height that her face would perfectly into the curve of his neck. She knew what his torso would feel like if she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. She knew what his silky hair would feel like in her fingers.

The light turned red above the busy street and the crosswalk flashed that it was safe to walk across.

"Hey!" Kari yelled, trying to get his attention as she made her way across the street toward him.

"Hey!" she yelled again. This time she could've sworn she saw his face turn, just a fraction of an inch toward her voice. Before she could call again, he was moving.

All of a sudden, he took off at a run into the park. Kari swore to herself before she ran the rest of the way across the street to follow him. Once into the park she could barely make out the sun glinting off his blond hair through the trees. Wishing she had worn tennis shoes instead of sandals, Kari struggled to keep up. His legs were far longer than hers and built for speed. Great, Kari thought to herself, it was just her luck that he'd be an athlete.

She turned a corner around a bend of thick trees, sure that this was where she'd seen him turn and paused. He was gone again. Nope, there was definitely no sign of him anywhere in this portion of the park.

What she did find there, however, made her stop running immediately.

Panting to catch her breath, Kari stared amazingly at the sight before her. She had no clue what it was, though was certain she had never seen anything like it in the park before. It looked, Kari thought, almost like a window. A huge round window. Through it she could see huge grey trees with wide bluish colored leaves and dark stormy skies.

She approached it cautiously, circling it. It looked exactly the same from both the front and back. From the sides, though, it was a thin, two-dimensional line. Breathing normally now, she moved so she was standing directly in front of it. Reaching up, she inched her arm gently into it.

Inside she could feel a cool breeze absent in the sunny park. She peered around the back of the window expecting to see her arm reaching through it, but there was nothing on the other side but a flat surface.

Shocked, she jerked her arm out, prepared to walk away, when she saw a flash of movement among the flora in the window. She couldn't tell if it was the man, but she was determined to find out.

Kari took a deep breath and stepped through the window.

She felt the cool breeze immediately, stirred by the heavy storm clouds building in the sky above her. Goose bumps spread down her arms and legs as she hurried down the narrow path. She was surrounded on all sides by a thick forest with no signs of the city or park she'd just left. Far behind her stood a large window like the one she'd just passed through except through it she could see the sunny park.

There was a flash of lightning. The forest around her was illuminated for a split second but what startled Kari more was that everything around her seemed to flicker like a bad television reception. When the world around her clarified once more, Kari saw a rustle in the underbrush a short distance in front of her. She paused, straining her eyes for any sign of golden-blond hair. Disappointingly, she saw nothing.

She took a few more hesitating steps when a new idea occurred to her. What if he meant to lead her here? What if this is some sort of trap or ambush? She pushed those thoughts away quickly. The park was usually very safe and why would anyone want to hurt her? Except, she reminded herself, that this place was definitely not her familiar park.

Cautiously, she moved forward so she was positioned just opposite of the spot where she had seen movement.

The lightning flickered again and Kari leapt backward in she had been expecting to see the blue-eyed boy, instead, she found two very large green eyes gazing out of the brush at her.

"Kari!" a purring voice cried.

Something small, white, and furry flew out from behind the bushes and attached itself firmly around Kari's waist.

"I can't believe you're here! There's been so many glitches lately, Izzy and Gennai are going crazy trying to figure out everything that's going on with the digital world."

Kari was pretty much frozen to the spot.

"Digital world?" she managed to ask when she regained control of her voice box.

Her attacker released her waist and took a step back to look up at her. Kari tried unsuccessfully to hide the surprise that she was facing a large, white, talking cat.

"What are you?" Kari asked, taking in the purple striped tail and lime green gloves. The cat was staring open-mouthed and horror stricken up at her. "And how do you know my name?"

"What do you mean, Kari? I'm Gatomon. I'm your digimon and your friend. I live here in the digital world. Don't you remember?"

Kari felt sure that talking cats were something she'd remember, but shook her head no to the cat's last question.

"Do you remember anything?" Gatomon asked, looking so sad and disappointed that Kari felt like crying.  
>Kari could tell she was becoming more upset over her memory loss so she decided to change the subject. "I came here following someone. Have you seen him anywhere? He's pretty tall with blond hair and blue eyes…"<p>

Gatomon frowned. "You saw him in your world?"

"You know him, then?"

But Gatomon only looked down at the ground, avoiding Kari's eyes and looking very troubled.

"Kari, you don't remember what happened?"

Kari was about to shake her head no again when she realized to what the cat was probably referring.

"You know what happened to me," Kari whispered, lowering to a crouch so she was now on eye-level with the digimon.

Tears welled in Gatomon's eyes as she nodded. She didn't bother to wipe them away as she said, "I'm so sorry, Kari! It's all my fault! I should've been there in time! I could've stopped him!"

Stopped who? Kari meant to say but didn't get the chance as she was interrupted by another bolt of the strange flickering lightning. It was much more intense than before; Gatomon seemed to blur right in front of Kari's eyes like she was a projection on a screen and not a solid object.

Gatomon stopped crying at once. "Oh no! You have to go back now! The portal is closing!"

She lunged for Kari's hand, which was difficult as there was another flicker making Gatomon's paw slide right through Kari. Kari understood the gesture though, following Gatomon at a run back down the path to the window.

The sky above them was almost black and heavy raindrops were splattering all around them. The lightning flashes were almost continuous now. Ahead of her, Kari could see the bright blue sky and lush green grass in the park. Gatomon paused at the border between the two places to give Kari one last flickering attempt at a hug before Kari stumbled back through the now disintegrating portal.

Just in time, Kari turned to watch the blackened skies, strange trees and two large green eyes vanish to reveal only the park she knew.

It took Kari a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the blinding sunlight and a couple of shaky steps for her to notice how out of place her rain soaked clothes and wind blown hair must look. The fearful looks she was getting from picnickers didn't seem to faze her as she tried to recover form the shock of what she had just experienced.

Before she was quite back to real life, a familiar voice jolted her from her contemplation.

"Kari?"

She looked up to see Joanie strolling across the grass toward her.

"I was just on my way to your apartment," she said. "Don said you were sick. What are you doing here? You should be at home resting…Kari?" She had reached Kari now and stopped to take in her frazzled appearance. "Why are you all wet? Did you fall in the fountain or something?"

Kari looked down as if just realizing she was dripping rainwater onto the dry grass.

"Joanie," Kari whispered excitingly. "I remembered something!"

Joanie's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. She was about to reply when Kari began shivering in her wet clothes. Joanie grabbed Kari's hand pulled her out of the park back toward the street.

"I want to know everything," she said. "But not until we save you from catching pneumonia or something."

She led Kari down several blocks until they reached Joanie's apartment building. Once inside Joanie practically shoved Kari into her bathroom with a spare pair of sweat pants and a clean t-shirt. When Kari emerged, she was only somewhat surprised to find Joanie staring blankly into her bedroom closet.

"What are you looking for?" Kari asked her.

"Something for you to wear on your date tomorrow," Joanie replied, turning around to give Kari a wide smile.

"Oh, yeah," Kari said, remembering what she had promised Don. It felt like ages ago that she had agreed to go out with him. "Did Don tell you?"

"He didn't have to, the whole office is talking about it."

"Oh," was all Kari could say, not nearly as excited about the event as Joanie seemed to be.

She grabbed a handful of items from their hangers and pushed Kari back into the bathroom. "Try these on while you tell me what's been going on with you."

Kari rolled her eyes behind the bathroom door and dutifully pulled on the first of Joanie's frilly dresses. As she did so, she began telling Joanie about her past twenty-four hours beginning with seeing the man on the sidewalk right before the accident.

Joanie was not a patient audience. When Kari described almost being hit by the truck, Joanie screamed and threw open the bathroom door despite Kari being only half dressed.

"Are you okay? Did it hit you? How come you didn't call me? Why am I just now hearing about this?"  
>"Joanie, relax. No, it didn't hit me. I'm perfectly fine. Although, if I hadn't stopped when I saw that man I would've walked right in front of the truck. So, in a way, I think he saved my life."<p>

Joanie didn't say anything, but Kari saw her jaw muscles visibly tighten as Kari went on with her story. When she was finished Joanie was very uncharacteristically quiet.

"You really think you know him?" she asked.

"Yes," Kari said confidently. "More than that, Joanie. I think I loved him."

"What if you're wrong? No, seriously, just listen. Have you considered that you might be wrong? What if you haven't ever met this guy? Maybe you just think you know him. Or maybe…"

Joanie avoided Kari's eyes.

"What?" Kari asked, not sure if she wanted her friend to go on.

"Please don't get mad," Joanie begged, "but what if you're just imagining him. Maybe he was someone you knew or loved. But Kari, if he's here, why isn't he trying to find you?"

"I don't know. Maybe I am going crazy. I just want to understand what happened to me."

Joanie smiled and hugged her tightly. "Maybe you can try some of those mental memory exercises the doctors recommended. I really think it's important that you figure out who this guy is. If he can help you figure out what happened then you can finally accept it and move on."

Kari nodded, letting her tears fall freely onto her friend's shoulder.

"And in the meantime," Joanie continued, "I really think you should wear the pink dress." She gestured to the pastel pink satin monstrosity that Kari had squeezed herself into while telling her story. Joanie angled her in front of the mirror and Kari was surprised to see that despite the puffy eyes and red nose, she didn't look half bad in the dress.

After Kari's clothes had dried, Joanie took her out to dinner where she pretended to laugh about all the scenarios in which Kari could have known the blond-haired man. As much as Kari enjoyed her friend's company, she couldn't find any humor in the situation especially after how upset Gatomon had been when Kari had asked about him. And something Joanie had said earlier really stuck with her. Why wasn't he looking for her? Did he recognize her in the intersection and again outside the park? Kari was sure there was a reason he hadn't been with her in the hospital, and she was slightly terrified to learn what that reason was.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ghost Story**

Chapter 4

Kari spent the whole next day debating whether she should call Don and cancel their date. The second to last thing she felt like doing was going out. The last thing she felt like doing was going out on a date with her boss. This was way worse than any other date because she was so terrified that if it didn't go well, her job could be compromised. How could she have thought she was ready for this? And why did she agree to date her boss of all people? Joanie was right. She should've started off slowly on a double date with the cute roommate.

Deciding that it was too late to politely back out, Kari took her time getting ready before pulling on Joanie's pink dress and fastening her silver bracelet onto her wrist. Taking deep breaths, she repeated to herself that she could do this. She could be social, and polite, and charming. And hopefully not lose her job. She would not mention windows in the park and talking cats.

At 7:55 her doorbell rang. Through her peephole she saw Don standing in front of the door in a dark grey suit holding a bright pink bouquet of flowers. She took one last deep breath, forced a smile on her face, and opened the door to greet him.

Despite Kari's lack of enthusiasm, Don was a perfect gentleman the entire time. He opened doors for her, he engaged in polite yet interesting small talk, he showed her the utmost respect, and he never seemed to be able to stop smiling at her. For another girl, the date would have been flawless. He took her to Tony's Kitchen, a popular new Italian restaurant in town. Kari recognized the name from Joanie, who had unsuccessfully been trying to get a reservation there since it opened two months ago.

When they stepped inside Kari could understand both why Joanie was so excited to dine here and why she had so far failed. The line of people waiting to put their name on the list went out the door and down the sidewalk. Don, however, went straight through the heavy wooden doors to where the host was waiting expectantly for them. He led them to a private table near a large window in the front of the restaurant, which was clearly the best seat in the house.

The host pulled out Kari's chair for her and laid a thick black napkin across her lap. Kari looked down, impressed that even the napkins were fancy with the restaurant's initials embroidered in shiny gold thread.

And then her heart skipped a beat.

The napkins were embroidered with the restaurant's initials.

Tony's Kitchen.

T.K.

And there it was. His name. His face. She said it out loud, loving the feel of it on her lips. Don was staring at her, but she didn't care. She saw only T.K.'s face. He was eight years old, wearing a green helmet and sweater vest. He was a teenager wearing a goofy white bucket hat and a happy smile on his face. He was bare-chested and sleeping peacefully in the dark beside her.

The tears brimming in her eyes brought her back to the reality of her date with Don, who was staring at her, repeatedly asking her what was the matter. She looked up at him, but her eyes slid past him, out the window of the restaurant to where a blond head was walking swiftly down the sidewalk past the restaurant.

"I'm sorry, Don," she stammered. "But I have to go."

"Kari wait!" he said, trying to clutch her arm, but she was too fast. She escaped his grip and was already racing out the door and down the sidewalk. She pushed her way past the line of hungry people waiting to get in, the tears freely streaming down her face. She heard Don calling her name behind her as she scanned the sidewalks. Joanie's heels were definitely not meant for running, but she tried her best to race after him, killing her feet in the process.

"T.K.!" she cried, but it was no use. She couldn't see him anymore.

With a crunch, one of her high heels snapped and she was pitched forward onto the sidewalk, scraping her hands and knees when they hit the cement. Don caught up to her then and helped her to her feet.

"Kari, are you alright?"

Kari stifled her sobs and shook her head no. Nothing was right. He drove her home and Kari did her best to explain what was going on, luckily remembering to still leave out the talking cats and other oddities. His reaction was much kinder than Joanie's doubt. He even offered to help her search for him.

"I really appreciate the offer," she told him, "but I'm not sure that it would be the right thing to do." She had to consider that maybe Joanie could be right and she was imagining everything. Although she instinctively doubted this possibility, she couldn't ignore the fact that every time she saw him; he was running away from her.

Don nodded and spent the rest of the drive back to her apartment building in silence. When she told him goodbye he gave her a tight hug.

"I'm sorry tonight didn't go as I had planned, but I hope you find this man. Or that he finds you."

"I'm sorry too," Kari said, deeply embarrassed for ditching him in the restaurant.

"You deserve to finally find some peace. See you Monday?"

"See you Monday."

That night Kari dreamed, and for once, she remembered them afterwards. His face hadn't left the forefront of her mind since she'd remembered his name so it was no surprise that she saw him in her dreams. With his sky blue eyes and golden blond hair there was no mistaking him. They were eight years old and they were scared. She wanted her brother to protect her from the monster with the clown's face but T.K.'s voice told her they were going to be okay so she forced herself to be brave like him. Then they were falling through the air and she clung to his hand but no matter how strong of a grip she had on him he kept slipping away.

Then she was twelve years old on the first day of school and her teacher was introducing a new student to the class. It was him. She couldn't hide the smile that lit up her face as he sat down next to her, just like old times. Then they were flying through the air again. She was in the arms of a beautiful angel that she knew somehow both was and wasn't Gatomon and T.K. smiled at her when she confessed that she cared about him.

Then they were fifteen, having a picnic in a flowery meadow. Gatomon was there and a small, winged, bat-like creature. T.K. leaned over and kissed her. Their first kiss. Then they were eighteen and her mother was opening the door to reveal T.K. standing there in a tuxedo, corsage in hand to pick Kari up for their high school prom. Then she was laughing, throwing her arms around his neck as he scooped her up to carry her across the threshold of their first apartment together. Then they were smiling sleepily at each other, naked and tangled in each other's arms.

Then they were driving down a beautiful tree-lined road in mid-summer. From the passenger seat she gazed at him contentedly. From behind the wheel he sensed her staring and turned his head to meet her eyes and smile at her. There was a jolt and a crash and lots of spinning. Then with one last dream shift she saw his face as she had last really seen it, grief stricken with tear-filled. She watched his lips mouth "I love you," and she fell sobbing, into a deep dreamless, restless sleep.

Kari sensed his presence in her room before she even opened her eyes. Even though she could feel the warmth of his body in the bed beside her, she was still slightly surprised to actually and physically see him there.

"Am I still dreaming?" she asked him, looking around to see the same bedroom in the same apartment that she had lived in for the past year. She reached her hand up to touch his face, feeling his warm skin. He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips and just then his figure flickered similarly to her encounter with Gatomon when she passed through the portal in the park.

"No. At least, I don't think so," he told her.

She couldn't hold back her tears any longer and let them fall freely onto his shoulder.

"Kari, don't cry."

"I had such horrible dreams, T.K. I don't understand what's happening."

"I don't know how this is happening either, but I don't want to waste it."

"What do you mean? How is what happening?"

"Being together." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "I don't know how to explain it…Do you remember when you went to the Dark Ocean?"

Kari smiled slightly, "Yes, that was the day you first told me you cared about me."

He smiled and brushed his lips against hers. "Well, I think this is sort of like that. Remember when Izzy came up with the theory that there probably wasn't just the real world and the digital world, but lots of parallel words lying next to each other. We're in different places now."

"I don't understand, T.K. Please, don't leave me again."

He flickered again.

"It's a glitch somewhere, Kari. I can't control it."

"No," she cried as his figured faded in and out again. He stood up from the bed and she reached out for him.

"I'm sorry, Kari," he said. "I love you."

And then he was gone again, leaving Kari sobbing and alone on the bed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ghost Story**

Chapter 5

After he disappeared, Kari forced herself to take a deep breath and pull herself together. What he had said made perfect sense, she only wished she had listened to all of Izzy's rantings more closely.

Izzy! She realized, she remembered him, she remembered everyone, Izzy and Joe and Mimi and Sora and Tai! Her brother Tai! Her name wasn't Kari Miko. Miko was her cat. Her name was Kari Kamiya and she was a digi-destined.

The force of all her memories flooding back to her hit her like a brick, knocking the air out of her lungs.

She threw herself out of bed and scrambled to grab a sweatshirt, not even bothering to change out of the loose fitting sweat pants she had been sleeping in. It seemed as if she couldn't move fast enough as she struggled to find her keys and sandals. Then the elevator couldn't move fast enough as she hurried out the door and into the bright light of the early Sunday morning air.

She ran up to the phone booth on the corner and began furiously flipping through the pages. Takaishi, Takaishi, Takaishi, she murmured while she scanned the listings.

There were no Takaishis listed.

Maybe he was going by his father's name now, she wondered, proud of herself that she knew what that was: Ishida, like his brother Matt.

There were no Ishidas listed.

With a sinking feeling in her heart she flipped to the Ks.

There were no Kamiya's listed.

There were no Takenouchis, no Ishiros, no Tachikawas, no Kidos, no Motomiyas, no Inuoes, no Hidas, and not even a single Ichijouji.

Feeling like she'd been hit with a sack of bricks again, she stumbled out of the phone booth. She looked around her at the familiar city of Odaiba, where she had lived her whole life. Where had everyone gone?

Feeling slightly nauseous, she bent over, stabilizing herself by gripping her knees. Something wasn't right. She had remembered everything, her life, her love, her family, and still everything was all wrong. She could remember all of them and the wonderful life she had spent with her family and friends and T.K., but she still didn't understand why she was here and they weren't.

A dark cloud moved to cover the sun and she was pulled back to reality. Lightning flashed in the distance, making her think of the day she saw Gatomon in the park.

That's it! She thought. If there were some serious glitches happening in the digital world and here on Earth then T.K. must be lost somewhere in another world, she just had to get to him. But to do that, she'd need another portal.

She crossed the street into the park. There was a storm coming, but Kari kept wandering further into it, looking for something like the window she'd seen before.

Kari remembered the day that she had been kidnapped by Scubamon and taken to the Dark Ocean. That was the day T.K. had told her he cared about her when he and Gatomon had rescued her. He said he had been wandering the beach trying to figure out a way to follow her there when a way had simply appeared before him. Maybe if she focused hard enough, a way to him would open for her. It seemed like a long shot but she had to try!

Heavy raindrops began to fall, splattering the sidewalk and the top of her head. Kari shivered and pressed on, moving faster through the park. Ahead of her loomed the large fountain in the center. She walked around it and on the other side she found what she had been searching for.

The portal itself was the same two-dimensional window she had crossed through several days earlier but that was where the similarities ended. Instead of peering into a dark jungle, Kari found herself face to face with a long dimly lit corridor. She didn't recognize the building but she took a chance and stepped inside it anyway.

The second she left the park behind her, she heard a loud DING! An elevator door slid open at the far end of the hallway. Her heart pounded when out stepped none other than T.K. himself, clad in a sleek black raincoat, with Patamon flapping behind him.

"T.K.!" Kari cried as she began running down the hallway.

Neither of them responded, looked up, or even acknowledged that she was there.

"T.K.! Patamon!" she cred again, but they still didn't react. He turned and opened a door on the right side of the hallway. Kari ran after him and slid inside just before it closed.

"T.K., what's going on? Answer me!" she said, louder this time, but he still ignored her as he turned into another room. Kari paused for only a second to look around her before following him. They were in an apartment she didn't recognize. There were pictures hung on the walls of the entryway so Kari glanced at them while she followed the way T.K. had gone. She saw a picture of Matt and T.K. with their arms around each other in front of the harbor. There was a picture of Matt's dad and a picture of T.K.'s mother, then a picture of a band performing at a rock concert. She recognized the skinny blond haired frame of the lead singer as Matt. This must be Matt's new apartment, she deduced. The sound of people arguing in the next room urged her forward.

Cautiously she peered around the corner. T.K. had gone to the living room, where he was sitting on the couch. Both Gatomon and Patamon were sitting beside him. In one corner, Izzy was sitting at a computer desk, his fingers scrambling across the keyboard as usual. Across from T.K., Matt and Tai were both standing and looking very upset.

"Will you guys just tell me what this is about?" T.K. demanded, and he did not sound very happy either.

"T.K.?" Kari asked, announcing her presence in the room. "Tai? Matt? What's going on?"

None of them acknowledged her.

"Can you guys even hear me?" She asked. "HELLO?" she yelled, but to no avail. None of them even glanced at the doorway she was standing in.

"T.K., don't get upset," Tai said, "we're just worried about you, is all."

"Why? What did I do this time?" T.K. sounded thoroughly annoyed.

Tai and Matt exchanged looks. They both seemed to be lost for words for a bit until Matt said, "Just…maybe it's time you started moving on with your life…"

She was right about T.K.: he was extremely annoyed. "What?" he practically yelled. "How can you think I can just move on with my life without her?" He picked up his raincoat and turned toward the door where Kari was standing.

When he turned around Kari got her first good look at his face and was shocked by what she saw. This was not the T.K. she had known. His cheeks were hollow, his eyes lined by dark circles, and his chin stubbly where he hadn't shaven in days. Even his normally thin body was even thinner.

"You of all people should understand, Tai," he muttered.

Tai looked hurt. "That's not he meant, T.K. I've accepted that she's gone and you need to do the same."

Kari felt like her heart was breaking as tears began brimming in her eyes. "I'm not gone," she stammered, "I'm right here. Why can't you see?"

She watched T.K.'s face as tears began to glisten in his eyes as well. "I can't, Tai. I can't when I know that some part of her is still out there somewhere." He turned back around to their brothers. "I saw her."

Tai's mouth dropped open an inch, Matt's frown deepened, and Izzy stopped his mad typing to swivel his desk chair around to face them.

"I saw her with my eyes, and I felt her with my hands. She's alive, and real, and out there somewhere," he went on.

Matt looked to Izzy, but Izzy only shook his head. "T.K., that's not possible."

"I saw her too!" Gatomon added and they all turned to stare at her. T.K. sat back down on the couch, though Kari was slightly concerned that it was more of a collapse.

"The other day," Gatomon began, "I was out chasing rabbits in the digital world and I saw her, plain as day in front of me. I talked to her."

Tai looked like he was going to collapse too.

"What did she say?" Patamon asked, hesitantly.

"She didn't understand what had happened to her," Gatomon said. "And she asked about T.K."

Kari felt nauseous again.

Matt turned to Izzy again. "Izzy, there has to be some explanation for this."

"Uhh…I…umm…" Izzy mumbled, "well, there have been a lot of glitches lately in the digital world. I guess the only explanation is that T.K.'s right. It's very possible that there is some part of her existing somewhere in another world. And with all the glitches going on there might be some crossover between our world and that one…although…"

"Although what?" Tai asked impatiently.

"Paranormal studies aren't my specialty," Izzy continued, "although many people have been able to provide factual evidence on the existence of paranormal beings, which makes me suspect that there is another world where they reside and that it does often cross paths with ours."

"What's a paranormal being?" Patamon asked.

"You think Kari's a ghost?" asked Matt.

"In other words, yes," Izzy responded.

This time Kari really was sick. She doubled over to vomit but nothing came up. "T.K.," she cried. "This can't be happening. I'm not a ghost, I'm right here. Tai!" She ran to them and in front of them. She waved her hands in front of their faces but none of them even blinked. Then she went to T.K. She sat down on the couch in between him and Gatomon and put her hand over the top of his, but she sort of slid through it, just like when Gatomon had flickered in front of her when she crossed through the portal in the park to the digital world.

Meanwhile, Izzy continued with his logistics. "On the other hand, despite lack of paranormal evidence, the abundant lack of evidence suggests that ghosts are very rare so therefore I must conclude that not all people become ghosts. That means those people must pass directly into Heaven, Hell, or wherever you choose to believe. I personally suspect there's another world that lies far away from this one."

No, Kari thought, this can't be happening. She tried to block out Izzy's words, drown them with her pleas to T.K. and Tai to hear her, please just hear her. "I'm not a ghost!" she cried, "I'm right here! I'm right here in front of you!" She reached up to stroke T.K.'s face, but her hand slid through him again.

"Kari."

The voice behind her made her jump. Joanie was the last person she'd expected to see here, but there she was, standing calmly in the doorway.

"Do you remember what happened now?" she asked in a very calm and soothing voice.

Kari shook her head no, tears streaming down her face, but that was a lie. She remembered everything.

_It was summer. The trees were all covered with thick green leaves, the sun was shining, and a warm breeze was pouring through the car's open windows. They were in the country, driving to visit his grandmother…so that they could tell her they were getting married. She looked up at him from the passenger seat, studying his profile, thinking about how happy she was. He sensed her looking and turned his head to smile at her. That one split second he took his eyes off the road was all it had taken._

_ Kari saw everything after that as if she was standing on the side of the road, watching the accident take place. The driver of the semi-truck going the other way had fallen asleep at the wheel and swerved just at the exact right moment to crash head long into them._

_ She watched as her body flew forward, her head smashing against and through the windshield. She saw T.K.'s body jerk back as the airbag deployed in his face. _

_ The driver of the truck was unhurt as he climbed down out of the truck's cab, and called an ambulance from his mobile phone. He merely glanced helplessly at Kari's lifeless body before assisting T.K. in untangling himself from the mass of crushed metal. _

_ "No!" T.K. cried as he rushed around the car to where she was lying on the hood. He was limping badly on what was probably a broken leg, and a cut on his forehead was gushing blood down his face, but he didn't stop until he was holding her in his arms._

_ "No, Kari. No," he gasped in between sobs as he rocked her back and forth. "I love you. Don't leave me."_

Kari stood up from the couch. Her head was spinning and her stomach reeling. It couldn't be real. She glanced back at T.K. where he was still listening to Izzy, Matt, and Tai debate the existence of ghosts. He brushed back a lock of blond hair that had fallen into his eyes and Kari saw a thick white scar just above his left eyebrow.

"It happened, Kari," Joanie said again. "There's nothing you can do about it now besides accept it. It's time to move on now."

"No!" Kari shouted, moving closer to T.K. "I won't leave him. You can't make me."

"No, I can't," Joanie said. "But are you sure that's the right decision? Just look at him. Look at what clinging to you has done to him."

She looked again at his wearied face. He looked up at the older boys bickering and straight into Kari's eyes.

"He knows you're here," Joanie said. "He can feel you. He doesn't want to let you go either, but you have to give him a chance. Give him a chance at happiness without you."

Kari was sobbing freely now as she absorbed the importance of Joanie's words. She took another long look at T.K.'s tired face and empty eyes. Joanie was right. For her love for him, she would let him go. She leaned over and placed a whispery kiss on his cheek. "I love you, T.K., and I always will." Then she reached up and grasped Joanie's outstretched hand.

When they touched, the room and everything around them disappeared and they were back in the park, in the world Kari had known for the past year.

"Will I ever see him again?"

"Yes," Joanie said, "but hopefully not for a long, long time."

Kari nodded, understanding. She followed Joanie back through the park to the busy streets beyond.

"What is this place, then?" Kari asked, gesturing to the city around them.

"An in between place, for those who aren't ready to leave. Are you ready now, Kari?"

Kari nodded and they stopped, just in front of Don's office building. Joanie smiled at her. "If you're ready then you'll know what to do now."

She started to walk away, but Kari stopped her. "Wait, aren't you coming with me?"

"No," Joanie said, "my job is to stay here and help others like you find their way."

Kari glanced back at the building Joanie had taken her to, confused about what to do next, but when she glanced back at Joanie for help, she was gone, lost in the crowd of people hurrying down the sidewalk.

Taking a deep breath, Kari stepped inside the building. She spun in a circle, looking around. Everything about the room was exactly the same as it had been every day that Kari had crossed through these halls.

DING! The elevator door in front of her opened unbidden, so Kari stepped inside. Her fingers instinctively found the button labeled twenty-three, but she stopped, hesitating. She knew what was on that floor. Today, she noticed another button she had never seen before. There was one floor above twenty-three. She smiled to herself, ready to face the unknown. The elevator doors closed in front of her as she pushed the button marked twenty-four.

The End


End file.
